"What have I said? I only said I went to meet the prime minister (Manmohan Singh) several times regarding our financial position. I can only meet and talk to him in a democratic way. I cannot beat him," she said here.

"What is wrong? I never said I'll beat him. Check out what I have said. Do not try to mislead people by distorting facts," she said.

While criticising the central government for hike in fertiliser prices, Banerjee, at a rally Monday, said: "I personally met the prime minister at least 10 times. What else can I do? Shall I go beat him up? Then people will call me a 'goonda'. Anyway, they call me that. But I don't care. I can go to the very last for the people."

The comment was widely criticised with the Congress demanding an apology from her for using "undemocratic language to hurt the prime minister".

"This kind of words from a chief minister while taking about the prime minister is totally unacceptable. We demand an immediate apology. We will launch a statewide protest," Minister of State for Urban Development Deepa Dasmunshi said.